Thankfully, our current stretch of numbing cold won’t last very long — but it’s still causing issues while it’s on top of us.
After highs in the 30s both Wednesday and Thursday, air temperatures are starting in the single digits Friday with wind chills under -10. Wind chill advisories are up areawide until noon Friday, and they return Friday evening until midday Saturday with overnight lows slightly below zero and wind chills expected as low as -15.
After five straight days of temperatures and/or wind chills below zero and two days of temperatures at or above freezing, TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers is reminding people to be safe in the cold.
Kandrive.org has seasonal driving conditions, meaning isolated to widely scattered icing, on Interstate 35 east of Kansas Highway 130, US Highway 50 west of Plymouth, US Highway 75 from Interstate 35 south to Kansas Highway 58 and Kansas Highway 177 from Strong City to Cassoday. Partly covered conditions involve US Highway 56 west of the Lyon-Osage county line, Kansas Highway 99 north of Admire, Kansas Highway 177 north of Strong City and all Wabaunsee County highways.
The freeze-thaw-freeze cycle of the past week has forced a number of Coffey County residents — and rural Lyon County residents south and east of Emporia — to conserve water use on a mandatory basis. This includes Burlington, New Strawn and a large coverage area for southeast Lyon and western Coffey County. The water has been deemed safe to drink and use for other purposes.
Burlington city officials have said the water demand is about double the normal levels and there have been an increasing number of water leaks, many of which have been hard to locate. Residents with confirmed or suspected water leaks in these affected areas can call officials to get their meters shut down until their situations are investigated and, if needed, fixed:
*Burlington: 620-364-5334
*Coffey County RWD 2: 620-437-6523
*New Strawn: 620-364-8283
Coffey County residents can also call the Sheriff’s Office at 620-364-2123.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for more weather updates as they develop.
If you have schedule adjustments — closings, cancellations, delays or postponements — to announce, call KVOE at 620-342-1400, email kvoe@kvoe.com or message the Bluestem Farm and Ranch text line at 620-342-5863. To find us on social media, look for Facebook@kvoenews, Instagram@kvoenews, YouTube@kvoenews or X@kvoeam1400.
